"Gas gouging" in Indiana is not just a matter of saying someone has been charging too much. A specific case has to be made:
The law defines gouging as charging a consumer an unconscionable amount for the sale of fuel.
It says that occurs if the amount charged grossly exceeds the average price at which fuel was readily available in a retailer's trade area seven days before a declared emergency, and the increased price is not attributable to cost factors to the retailer.
And when House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer "implores" the governor to have the attorney general "aggressively investigate" gas gouging, it's pretty clear that that's not what he's talking about. The high cost of gasoline, he says, "is a drain on the state's economy." What's he expect the attorney general to do, order every gas station to cut its prices by 30 percent? Even by political-grandstanding rules of thumb, this is pretty audacious. Rhetorical gouging, I'd say.
